Family/On Stage
Family On Stage: from the Leicester Clubs to Shepherd’s Bush, 1966 to 2016
The band that could not break America played to more people in one British field than Woodstock ever held. The live record is where Family make the most sense.
The setlist
2 February 2013, Shepherd’s Bush
Roger Chapman, John “Poli” Palmer, Rob Townsend, Jim Cregan announced a single night, forty years after the band had stopped. It sold out fast enough that they added the evening before it, brought in extra musicians, and built a tribute to the members who had died into the show.
Side A
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
2 February 2013
- Roger Chapman
- John “Poli” Palmer
- Rob Townsend
- Jim Cregan
Two nights, the second added once the first sold out
The running order
- Top of the Hill
- Drowned in Wine
- Holding the Compass
- Part of the Load
- Ready to Go
- Crinkly Grin
- Burning Bridges
- No Mule’s Fool
- Sat’dy Barfly
- Between Blue and Me
- Hung Up Down
- Burlesque
- In My Own Time
- The Weaver’s Answer
- My Friend the Sun
- Sweet Desiree
“The Weaver’s Answer” closed the set, as it had since 1970
Every Stage That Mattered
Eleven entries, from a Leicester club circuit to a reunion nobody expected. Attendance figures are the ones the record states.
- 1966–67
The Marquee, The 100 Club London - The club circuit, played while waiting for a record deal that arrived within months.
- July 1968
Royal Albert Hall London - Supporting Tim Hardin, on a bill with Pink Floyd, The Nice, Soft Machine and The Move - months after the debut album.
- 1969
Fillmore East New York - The first American tour, and the night Chapman’s microphone stand hit the promoter. By the end of it the band was playing Canada without its singer.
- 5 July 1969
Stones in the Park, Hyde Park London - Between 250,000 and 500,000 people, two days after Brian Jones died. The concert became a film and, in 2013, a second Hyde Park anniversary show.
- 1969
Isle of Wight Festival Isle of Wight - On a bill with Bob Dylan and The Who, in front of roughly 150,000 - Britain’s answer to Woodstock, minus the trouble.
- Summer 1970
Kralingen Music Festival Rotterdam - The “European Woodstock”: 100,000 people, Jefferson Airplane and Pink Floyd on the same weekend.
- 28 August 1970
Isle of Wight Festival Isle of Wight - Between 600,000 and 700,000 - bigger than Woodstock, and the biggest festival of its era. Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Doors played the same five days. Family’s set included “The Weaver’s Answer”.
- 1971
Glastonbury Festival Pilton - The festival’s second edition. Nicolas Roeg filmed it; the band appears in Glastonbury Fayre.
- 1972
Elton John US tour United States - A support slot in front of audiences that did not want them, and the point at which morale broke.
- 13 October 1973
Hawthorn Building, Leicester Polytechnic Leicester - The last concert, in the city where the band formed.
- 2 February 2013
O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire London - The reunion, sold out fast enough to need a second night, with extra musicians and a tribute to the members who had died.
- 2013–16
Rockin’ the Park and after UK and Europe - What was announced as a one-off kept going for three more years.
Why the Stage Suited Them Better than the Studio
The problem with putting Family on a record is that the arrangements were built out of instruments rock records did not usually carry - saxophone, violin, cello, flute - and studio mixes of the period tended to flatten exactly that. Live, the same arrangements had room. It is why a band whose best chart placing was No. 4 kept being booked onto bills with Pink Floyd, The Nice, Soft Machine and The Move within months of a debut album, and why the Isle of Wight organisers put them on the same five days as Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors and the members of The Who.
The other reason is Roger Chapman. His delivery was forceful enough that after the 1969 American tour it simply stopped working - the band finished the run playing Canada without a singer. That is a stage problem, not a studio one, and it tells you how hard he was pushing.
The Two Isle of Wight Sets
The 1969 festival put them in front of roughly 150,000 people on a bill with Bob Dylan. The 1970 one, from 26 to 31 August, exceeded everyone’s expectations and drew between 600,000 and 700,000 - the biggest festival of its era, larger than Woodstock. Family played the third day, 28 August, and the set included “The Weaver’s Answer”, which stayed the song they were known for. The festival was filmed for the documentary Message to Love, though it was not released until 1997.
Hyde Park, Two Days After Brian Jones
The Rolling Stones’ free concert on 5 July 1969 drew somewhere between a quarter and half a million people, largely because it was the band’s first stage appearance after a long hiatus. Brian Jones had died two days earlier and the performers honoured him. Keith Richards later called the Stones’ own set “pretty bad until near the end”. Family, several places down the bill, came away with a considerably bigger audience than they had arrived with.
The Last Night, and the One After It
Family disbanded after a concert on 13 October 1973 at the Hawthorn Building of Leicester Polytechnic, in the city where they had formed seven years earlier. That was meant to be the end of it. In 2012 they announced one reunion night, played it on 2 February 2013, added a second, and then kept going - Rockin’ the Park later that year, then UK and European dates until 2016.
Questions about Family live
What was Family’s biggest concert?
The Isle of Wight Festival on 28 August 1970, in front of an audience put at 600,000 to 700,000 - the biggest festival of its era and larger than Woodstock. Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and The Doors played the same five days.
Did Family play the Rolling Stones’ Hyde Park concert?
Yes, on 5 July 1969 - the Stones in the Park show, two days after Brian Jones died, in front of between 250,000 and 500,000 people. The concert became a film and, in 2013, a second anniversary show in the same park.
What was Family’s signature live song?
“The Weaver’s Answer”. It was in the Isle of Wight set in 1970 and was still in the setlist at the 2013 reunion, forty-three years later.
Where did Family play their last concert?
At the Hawthorn Building of Leicester Polytechnic on 13 October 1973, in the city where the band had formed in 1966.
Can I hear the 2013 reunion set here?
No. This page lists the songs in the order they were played; there is no audio on this site and no recording is offered. The setlist is the record.